SEAL grinder PT Interview with Michael Giardina

SGPT: Tell us a little bit of who Mike G. is and what your up to these days?
MG: To be honest, there is not much to me when I am training for competition. All I have been up to is school, work, and training. Not the most exciting life right now.
SGPT: Did you have a sports background growing up?
MG: I played football for 12 years. After high school all I have competed in is triathlons and CrossFit.
SGPT: What are your favorite WOD’s? Least favorite?
MG: My favorite WOD is Diane. I really like any workout that I can complete in under 5 minutes. I would say that my least favorite WOD is filthy 50.
SGPT: What is the secret to your blistering time on the Diane WOD?
MG: It is all about the hand stand push ups. My secret to them is having very short arms. I was blessed with natural short range of motion.
SGPT: Can you tell us about your diet and how you believe it helps you?
MG: I eat Paleoish…not crazy strict though. I will eat legumes and peanut butter from time to time. I do weigh and measure the food I eat. I usually eat 18 blocks on single workout days and 20 blocks on multiple workout days. I can tell a big difference when I am eating well. I feel the biggest difference in my recovery between workouts. I do have epic cheat days though…one a week. Most of my cheat days are gluten free though.
SGPT: What style of training are you doing now for CrossFit?
MG: I generally follow HQ’s WODs, but throw in some extra strength days and running days. I try to work on all my gymnastic weaknesses (pistols!!!!) in my warm ups.
SGPT: Do you change styles as you approach a competition?
MG: Not really. The only thing I change is volume. I’ll start throwing in a few more multiples as cometition approaches. Usually about 10 weeks out I’ll ramp up the multiples and then slowly taper off about a two weeks out.
SGPT: Have you dealt with injuries in the past? How did you work around these issues?
MG: Yeah. I have had a nagging back injury that has been bothering me since my Navy days. I hurt it pretty bad again in September. I used the reverse hyper, sled pulls, ab training, and a lot of rest to recover. It took about 4 weeks to start hitting any workouts with any sort of intensity.
SGPT: What did you do in the Navy?
MG: Nothing really too cool. I spent most of my time working as an OPCON Operator in Masirah, Oman and Baharain.
SGPT: Do you take any supplements?
MG: Yup. I take fish oil, vitamin D, beta alanine, whey protein, and I’ll suplement on and off with creatine.
SGPT: Can you give us a few of your recent stats on CrossFit baseline workouts?
MG: I haven’t really been hitting too many baseline workouts. I have been trying to use other workouts to compare progress. Here are a few though…Diane-2:09, Grace-1:46, and I think that is about it for benchmarks.
SGPT: Which are you working on the most to improve?
MG: I’m not really looking to improve one particular workout, but I have been trying to improve in the 15+minute time domain. I have been trying to get better at running and rowing as well.
SGPT: You seem to have lost some of your hair this past year. What happened to the Fro?
MG: The Fro is on hiatus, but it shall return.
SGPT: Thanks for the interview, Mike and best of luck in this years CrossFit competitions.
MG: Thanks! This was awesome. Oh and please excuse all my mispelled words.